After the Rain: God's Blessings are Coming After the Rain

 

After the Rain

I love springtime. However, there are two things that I don’t like about spring. They are the storms and the long periods of rain. Last week, it rain almost none stop. Everyone began to complain about the weather. I even started to wonder when it was going to stop. Someone jokingly asked “Is it going to rain for 40 days and 40 nights?” Thankfully, after almost two straight weeks of rain, the sun came out. As I was enjoying the beautiful sunshine, God spoke to my heart. He whispered into my spirit, “After the Rain”.

As I looked around, I noticed something. After the rain passed, the grass was greener and new life was bursting forth everywhere. Flowers were blooming. Birds were singing. It was amazing. And, just like nature begin to flourish after the rain, so can we. We can become stronger, better, and more beautiful after the rain.

We don’t have to be defeated by our current situations. We don’t have to be held down because of our past. We don’t have to be discouraged because of what our finances look like. Yes, it may be raining in your life today. But, that doesn’t mean the rain will last forever. Change is coming. The sun will eventually break through. But, what do you do in the meantime?

In the meantime, give praise to God. Thank God for his faithfulness. Even thank God for the rain because the rain is change you. It is molding you. Just like nature grows and flourishes after the rain, so will you. We have to remember that it is God who sends the rain as well as the sunshine. Without the rain, there would be no growth. God has orchestrated the events of our life. He is using the rain for His purpose and of our own good. We must remember that His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways.

 

So, instead of focusing on the negative. Focus on the positive. Go ahead and praise God for the change he is working in you. Thank him for increasing your faith because after this you will have sunshine.

Amen!

Isaiah 55:9-11

If I knew Then...

How many times have we all said this? Too many. As I was driving down the road the other morning, I couldn’t help but thinking about all of the times that I had faced adversity. I was thinking about the problems I had faced and the way that I had responded to them. Suddenly, it came to me. If I had just responded the right way, things would have gone different. If I had just turned to God sooner!

I knew how to pray at the time of the adversity. But, did I ask God show me how to respond to the problem? Did I ask him to lead me around the mountain instead of trying to trek over it?

I am just so thankful that I now have a better understanding of who I am in Christ. I know that as a child of God I have a right to take my problems to the throne and expect them to be answered. I have the assurance that God hears me and that he is working everything for my good. I have learned to accept that adversities will come, but I don’t have to react negatively. I don’t have to stress out. I should take my problems~my questions to God immediately instead of trying to figure things out myself.

Yes, it can be trying during the waiting time. But, it is so much better to wait for God to give me the answer. It is better to allow him to guide me.

I used to get frustrated when I talked to someone about my problems and all he/she could tell me to do was to “pray”. I remember thinking, “Yeah, right. I know how to pray. I tried that already.” I now realize that although I had prayed, I did not give God time to answer. If an answer did not come immediately, I thought that God was ignoring me or that he just didn’t care about my problem. I can see now that he did care. I can see that he heard me when I first prayed. Just like with Daniel, he sent the answer, but sometimes it is held up.

If I knew then what I know now, I would not have spent so many sleepless nights. I would not have worried so much. I would have responded better. I would have guarded my tongue. I would have fasted more. I would have looked with spiritual eyes and seen the army of the Lord. I would have remembered that the battle was not mine but God’s.

Thank God for lessons learned!